Meghan decided to sing for me:) This is a very cute video and I thought I would share this with you all. This was from August. You will need to pause the music from my page to hear her sing.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Swimming lessons
November 2007 Jenna started swim lessons at her school. She cried and didn't want to get in the water and in 4 weeks she was ok with not holding on for dear life on the side. She is finishing up the first year and you will see for yourself how far she has come in just one year!! Jenna has the red swim cap on.
Meghan started swim lessons January 2008. She was so excited and still looks forward to swim lessons each week. Meghan has had lessons in the past but never really learned to swim from those lessons. Meghan has the blue swim cap on.
Meghan started swim lessons January 2008. She was so excited and still looks forward to swim lessons each week. Meghan has had lessons in the past but never really learned to swim from those lessons. Meghan has the blue swim cap on.
Monday, October 20, 2008
My Dad.......
My Dad recently retired from the Wayne County Sheriff's office after 20 years and the news paper did a short article on him. Thought I would share it will you all. He is an awesome Dad and Papa!! (this pictures was taken at Tracy's house this summer)
Wayne County Sheriff's Office Maj. George Raecher, supervisor of investigations, the county drug squad and aggressive criminal enforcement team, has retired after a career spanning 20 years.
Raecher is moving into another public service job on a part-time basis, already stepping into a job this month in enforcement with the county Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.
That quick transition prompted some questions from friends, the now-retired Sheriff's Office major said during an interview last week.
"People have said, 'Well, George, did you (at least) take a vacation?'" Raecher said with a chuckle at his home near Walnut Creek.
He did -- he and his wife, Jan, whom he married just six weeks after they met at the gates of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, went to Pigeon Forge for a week.
Now, he's training for his new job, which will involve working to ensure that things run smoothly at the county's ABC stores. The job he's taking is being vacated by another former Sheriff's Office major, Glenn Odom, who has moved to the county Magistrate's Office.
Raecher said he's preparing for a new job that will provide new challenges, but probably less excitement -- and 3 a.m. phone calls -- than his old position.
He said he expects to miss the feeling of being a criminal investigator.
"I'm going to miss the activity. I love the detective work -- I love being involved in those situations. I love fighting crime."
But there are things that he will not miss, he said.
A detective carries memories that don't fade away easily.
For Raecher, one such memory is the case of then 16-year-old Antonio Leonta McKinney, who was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms in the July 30, 1999, murder of Peggy Lofton, 41, of Dudley.
That was one of the many mornings in his career, which included at least a decade in crime scene investigation, that Raecher took an early morning phone call. The call about Ms. Lofton came around 3 a.m., Raecher said.
"The Lofton case was a young man that broke into a mobile home in Dudley, shot the mother in the forehead, and killed the 22-month-old baby," Raecher said.
"I'll always live with that picture, of (infant Kelly Nicole) leaning against her momma's shoulder, and she had a pacifier and she was hanging on to the Pooh bear," Raecher said in recollection, clearly moved by the memory.
Raecher has three daughters who are all married, and one of his grandchildren got word of what had happened.
It was one of many times that Raecher struggled for a way to explain the behavior of others to the people he loves, he said.
The granddaughter asked, "'Poppa, why do people kill babies?' I said, 'I don't have an answer for that.' There's my grandchild, asking me why, and I say I don't know," Raecher said.
Dealing with scenes like that make the long hours hard sometimes, the retired Sheriff's Office major said.
"I get up, and get dressed and go do it," Raecher said, not long before a sentence in which he trailed off. "(The memories), I don't dwell on them, but you start thinking of some of the things that I did ...."
How does he deal with the memories when they do crop up?
"Do a lot of praying," Raecher said.
Raecher said he wouldn't define his career by his work in a particular type of crime, and added that he never reached a point where he wasn't willing to help with any aspect of an investigation, even if he wasn't the lead investigator.
"I'm a worker. I like to be a team player," Raecher said. "And sometimes, the sheriff (Carey Winders) would say 'You need to back off a little bit.' I would go with an officer today, if they wanted me to go and do an interview, I'd be up there helping them."
Raecher said much of the success he has enjoyed in law enforcement has come through good relationships with other officers.
"I have to brag on the ... deputies, and the Sheriff's Office personnel," Raecher said. "I'm proud of their accomplishments. They've got some great people in there right now."
Raecher said a few promotions and personnel acquisitions in particular, those of Chris Worth, Mike Cox and Jerry Maxwell, among others, have been instrumental in combating serious crime.
When asked about what 20 years of policing had taught him, the retired major said it's that you cannot identify a criminal by looking at him or her alone.
"You can't judge a person by looking at anybody," Raecher said. "I've seen some people (ask), 'Does a murderer have a certain look? Do people that rape children have a certain look?' No. You can't judge somebody by looking at them.
"I don't know how you characterize it, you talk to them, try to talk to them and ... figure out what's going through their head," Raecher said. "(The idea) that a certain group of people commits this certain type of crime -- I've not found that to be something that I can identify."
Raecher is moving into another public service job on a part-time basis, already stepping into a job this month in enforcement with the county Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.
That quick transition prompted some questions from friends, the now-retired Sheriff's Office major said during an interview last week.
"People have said, 'Well, George, did you (at least) take a vacation?'" Raecher said with a chuckle at his home near Walnut Creek.
He did -- he and his wife, Jan, whom he married just six weeks after they met at the gates of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, went to Pigeon Forge for a week.
Now, he's training for his new job, which will involve working to ensure that things run smoothly at the county's ABC stores. The job he's taking is being vacated by another former Sheriff's Office major, Glenn Odom, who has moved to the county Magistrate's Office.
Raecher said he's preparing for a new job that will provide new challenges, but probably less excitement -- and 3 a.m. phone calls -- than his old position.
He said he expects to miss the feeling of being a criminal investigator.
"I'm going to miss the activity. I love the detective work -- I love being involved in those situations. I love fighting crime."
But there are things that he will not miss, he said.
A detective carries memories that don't fade away easily.
For Raecher, one such memory is the case of then 16-year-old Antonio Leonta McKinney, who was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms in the July 30, 1999, murder of Peggy Lofton, 41, of Dudley.
That was one of the many mornings in his career, which included at least a decade in crime scene investigation, that Raecher took an early morning phone call. The call about Ms. Lofton came around 3 a.m., Raecher said.
"The Lofton case was a young man that broke into a mobile home in Dudley, shot the mother in the forehead, and killed the 22-month-old baby," Raecher said.
"I'll always live with that picture, of (infant Kelly Nicole) leaning against her momma's shoulder, and she had a pacifier and she was hanging on to the Pooh bear," Raecher said in recollection, clearly moved by the memory.
Raecher has three daughters who are all married, and one of his grandchildren got word of what had happened.
It was one of many times that Raecher struggled for a way to explain the behavior of others to the people he loves, he said.
The granddaughter asked, "'Poppa, why do people kill babies?' I said, 'I don't have an answer for that.' There's my grandchild, asking me why, and I say I don't know," Raecher said.
Dealing with scenes like that make the long hours hard sometimes, the retired Sheriff's Office major said.
"I get up, and get dressed and go do it," Raecher said, not long before a sentence in which he trailed off. "(The memories), I don't dwell on them, but you start thinking of some of the things that I did ...."
How does he deal with the memories when they do crop up?
"Do a lot of praying," Raecher said.
Raecher said he wouldn't define his career by his work in a particular type of crime, and added that he never reached a point where he wasn't willing to help with any aspect of an investigation, even if he wasn't the lead investigator.
"I'm a worker. I like to be a team player," Raecher said. "And sometimes, the sheriff (Carey Winders) would say 'You need to back off a little bit.' I would go with an officer today, if they wanted me to go and do an interview, I'd be up there helping them."
Raecher said much of the success he has enjoyed in law enforcement has come through good relationships with other officers.
"I have to brag on the ... deputies, and the Sheriff's Office personnel," Raecher said. "I'm proud of their accomplishments. They've got some great people in there right now."
Raecher said a few promotions and personnel acquisitions in particular, those of Chris Worth, Mike Cox and Jerry Maxwell, among others, have been instrumental in combating serious crime.
When asked about what 20 years of policing had taught him, the retired major said it's that you cannot identify a criminal by looking at him or her alone.
"You can't judge a person by looking at anybody," Raecher said. "I've seen some people (ask), 'Does a murderer have a certain look? Do people that rape children have a certain look?' No. You can't judge somebody by looking at them.
"I don't know how you characterize it, you talk to them, try to talk to them and ... figure out what's going through their head," Raecher said. "(The idea) that a certain group of people commits this certain type of crime -- I've not found that to be something that I can identify."
Friday, October 17, 2008
My Borndest Baby and weekly news
Having the girls adds extra fun and laughter each and every day. I have to tell you that Jenna comes up with her own words for things and then sticks with the new words. Well, a few months back she decided that a newborn was called your borndest baby.......I try to tell her the correct word but she doesn't care to hear it! She has even rubbed that word off on Meghan. I can hear them playing and they are talking about who is their borndest babies!!! Their babies are also zero....instead of aged in months!
This week was a busy week even though it was just a 4 day "work" week. We started out Tuesday with me going to help out in Meghan's class for an hour and a half. I really enjoyed myself and look forward to my Tuesday mornings in Kindergarten! I moved the girls swim lessons to Tuesday right after school and it worked out really well this week. They are both catching on so fast with swimming. Jenna is able to put her face under the water and is practicing how to move her head out of the water to breath. She still doesn't go very far but is trying very hard. Meghan is able to swim all strokes and is getting better with her techniques each week.
Meghan has a loose front top tooth and it is hanging half in/half out. She won't let us touch it and will only wiggle it when we ask her to. This will be her forth baby tooth to fall out and hopefully it will be the first she pulls out on her own. I actually think it will fall out on it's own before she will try to pull it! I really hope it's out by next Wednesday because she has her school picture taken. We decided she looks like Nanny McPhee with the tooth and she thinks it is very funny!!! Her other three teeth all came out without her help....the first one was caught on a rope at her school last year, Rob pulled one and the dentist pulled the other one during a routine cleaning.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Ireland trip
Malahide Castle
Coast of Ireland
Coast of Ireland
Bewley's hotel
Rob and Chris
Me and Crystal
Me and Crystal
Ireland.....check!
I have been able to see two countries this year that were on my list of things to do! We went to Scotland earlier this year and Ireland was checked off the list this past weekend. We took a short 45/50 minute flight from London/Stansted and arrived in Dublin Saturday evening. The bus system is very easy to use and we arrived safely at our hotel, Bewley's, without getting lost! Our hotel was an old school house and was beautiful! We went on this trip with our friends and had a wonderful time seeing all of Dublin (I actually think we made it twice around the city on the hop-0n-hop-off bus. Our main stops were Guinness Storehouse and Kilmainham Goal (old prison). We also walked around city centre and checked out the shops. Along the bus route was Phoenix Park....I believe it is one of the largest parks in the EU. Ireland's president lives in a house located in that park and across the roundabout is the US ambassador's house!
We also took a North Coast & Malahide Castle tour! It was a three hour bus tour with a stop at Malahide Castle and a surprise stop at the beach......I almost forgot to tell you.......IT DIDN'T RAIN THE WHOLE TIME WE WERE IN IRELAND!!!!!!!!!! Our bus driver on the coastal tour was funny and he said it only rains twice a year in Ireland....."the first time is for about 6 months.......!!" We took over 200 pictures so I will post just a few!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Blogging and Fall
Ok, I really need to get in the routine and really start blogging because I love to read blogs and I'm sure all our families would enjoy seeing/reading what we are doing. We are busy with Fall and all that goes along with it. Rob returned from his trip down range and we are busy with school, ballet and swim lessons. Meghan and Jenna grow a little more each and every day and I'm so thankful to have two healthy beautiful little girls. I will try to keep this going and blog each week or whenver something cool happens.....or when nothing cool happens!!
We are looking forward to a weekend trip to Dublin, Ireland!! I'm so excited. Ireland was one of the places I wanted to see and my dream is coming true!! We will be packing a lot of sites into two days and will post pictures and details of the trip!!! Stay tuned.
We took the girls today to the pumpkin patch. I think we all 4 love Fall and all that goes with it. Going to the pumpkin patch is one of the highlights of the season! Today was the perfect day.....it was windy, chilly and really felt like fall
Castle Rising Castle
We took a visit to Castle Rising Castle up near the Wash and it was a beautiful out of the way castle. We are taking this pictures sitting in the ruins of the old Chapel.
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